Do It Yourself

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Make it, Fix it, Renovate it, Rehabilitate it - as long as you’ve done some part of it yourself, share!

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Finished the cat paths! (beehaw.org)

submitted 9 months ago by Vodulas@beehaw.org to c/diy@beehaw.org

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We finished the last piece of the cat path I posted about earlier! This one goes from the laundry room, to the stairwell, and then into the guest bedroom on the upper floor (yes, I know the carpet needs replaced in that closet). They are already using them and seem to love the new path already.

https://imgur.com/a/QExCWgN

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[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Just a heads up: cats get a confidence boost from how stuff smells.

Even when neutered at an early age, they have a highly sensitive nose, plus a vomeronasal organ, they keep rubbing their smell and saliva onto everything, and are highly territorial regarding anything smelling "not right".

If you plan on having more than one cat, also plan on sticking to a strict cleaning policy to reduce odors and keep the ones left as uniform as possible, before the cats "fix" it for you.

Personally, I'd be wary of a carpeted floor, any carpet-like surfaces, or letting cats get into high places that can turn into waterfalls or allow them to piss on the ceiling... and I seriously wish that was hyperbole.

(Source: lived with dozens of cats, the remaining 5, both males and females, can still get into a pissing and puking contest when some chunk of floor, furniture, clothes, or whatever, "smells wrong")

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

vomeronasal

Unrelated, but this term sounds like something I experience when I barf...

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Surprisingly, somewhat related in a circuitous way...

Vomero is a neighborhood in Naples, on top of a hill and directed to upper-middle and higher class. The etymology mix is interesting: its name comes from a villa on there, which has a relation to agriculture, which uses plowshares, aka "vōmer" in Latin... which also was an informal word for penis (then again, what wasn't in Latin)... but it stuck to the nasal bone with a shape similar to a plow.

"Vomerò" is also the first person singular of the future indicative for the Italian vomere, or "I will vomit" (...not to be confused with the Latin "vomitorium", although that one's etymology also comes from vomit)... and arguably, a plowshare is the part that "vomits" earth while plowing.

So you weren't all that far away: if you vomit, chances are your vomeronasal organ, named after the bone shaped like the tool that vomits while plowing, will get a whiff of whatever goes through.

[–] rhythmisaprancer@kbin.social 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for indulging my inner etymological nerd! That was great. And unexpected. I wonder what the townfolk feel about that?

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 2 points 9 months ago

I only lived in Naples for a short time many decades ago, but there was the occasional joke of going to vomit after partying at the pubs/clubs/discos up there. It didn't feel like they took the relationship too seriously; after all, the words are accented differently, and one is a noun while the other is a verb conjugation.